Lady Raiders finish season against Northwest Christian

The Lady Raiders ended their season last Friday at Mt. Spokane High School, losing to the Northwest Christian Crusaders in a WIAA Regional game 64-29.

The Lady Raiders had trouble offensively in the first half and could not capitalize on NWC’s mistakes early on.

“We started off well,” Head Coach Wallace Pleasants said, “then we got careless with our passes, which led to 16 turnovers that Northwest Christian got 24 points off.”

Northwest Christian played a stout zone defense that shut down both Katelynn Schilling and Danielle Laramie. Both would find themselves doubled teamed, then when the ball was passed to them, it quickly became a triple team. This limited the options for LR offensively and it showed on the scoreboard. At halftime the Lady Raiders were down 39-11.

In the third quarter, it was more of the same as the Crusaders set the tone of the game. Then early in the fourth, the Lady Raiders put together a small offensive run started by Danielle Laramie hitting a three pointer. NWC refocused and ended the run. Both team then unloaded their benches to play out the game.

Keya Fast Horse scored the first three LR points of the game and went on to be the team’s high scorer with 10.

Pleasants thought the team was ready for a tough physical game.

“We had talked about the physical play as Riverside Christian and Oroville showed them it would be more physical as the games progressed,” Pleasants said, “but the girls were not ready mentally for it.”

Pleasants noted that the league schedule was not the best this season to get the Ladies ready for tough postseason games.

Looking to next season, Pleasants said he would like to see more of the girls getting involved in the summer basketball team.

“We play against tough physical squads from bigger schools that really prepared the girls in the past to play the Northwest and Riverside Christian,” he said.

This week, the Central Washington 2B North All League team was announced and several Lady Raiders made the cut.

Keya Fast Horse, Hailey Chaney, and Katelynn Schilling made the first team. Fast Horse was a three-point threat and racked up a lot of steals. Chaney was a senior leader and a game changer in key games this season. Schilling led the team offensively down the stretch and averaged 10 points a game this season, racking up several double-doubles.

Danielle Laramie and Rickyna Sam made the second team. Laramie started off with great offensive performances, but was slowed down by injury. Not to be deterred, she fought through to lead the team past districts and to within a game of state. Sam was a three-point threat and a big part in the win over Omak early in the season. Johnny McCraigie made CWL North Honorable Mention for being a solid sixth man for most of the season and for stepping up her play during the time Fast Horse was out with injury.